Reciprocating piston engines and/or compressors have been known for many years, and for a variety of reasons some engines and/or compressors were developed with single end pistons operating at an angle wherein the angle between pistons is 180.degree. . Rotary piston engines have also been developed where the pistons reciprocate along a radius of a circle. More recently attention has been directed to engines employing double-ended pistons with each half of the piston set at an angle to the other half. Separate cylinder blocks house opposite ends of the same bent-axis pistons, and by rotating the cylinder blocks around a central shaft the piston ends are caused to reciprocate in their own cylinders. Typical of engines and compressors employing this principle are those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,830,208; 3,902,468; 3,905,338; 3,973,531; and 4,060,060.
It has now been found that improved operation and efficiency can be obtained by providing a new arrangement for vapor flow through a compressor of the general bent-axis type, and that other advantages are provided by these new designs.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel bent-axis vapor compressor. It is another object of this invention to provide a bent-axis type of compressor wherein the vapor to be compressed enters into the inside of hollow pistons and flows to the head of the cylinder where it is compressed and then exits through the interior of a hollow central shaft. Still other objects will become apparent from the more detailed description which follows.